Nearly everyone is anxious… There’s talk of a global recession, much of the U.S. government remains closed for business, China’s economy is looking wobbly, and then there’s the ongoing trade war with that country. Not to mention slowing sales growth from notable companies like Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and American Airlines (Nasdaq: AAL). And disappointing holiday sales that have crushed the share prices of many retailers, notably Macy’s (NYSE: M), which is down about 24% since January 9. The latest wall of worry for the market and the economy is that this earnings season is expected to be slower than previous… Read More
Nearly everyone is anxious… There’s talk of a global recession, much of the U.S. government remains closed for business, China’s economy is looking wobbly, and then there’s the ongoing trade war with that country. Not to mention slowing sales growth from notable companies like Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and American Airlines (Nasdaq: AAL). And disappointing holiday sales that have crushed the share prices of many retailers, notably Macy’s (NYSE: M), which is down about 24% since January 9. The latest wall of worry for the market and the economy is that this earnings season is expected to be slower than previous quarters. Now, keep in mind that the last three quarters have seen earnings growth of more than 24%. That’s a high standard to beat. To give you an idea of what sort of bar has been set, just look at last quarter’s performance. In the third quarter of 2018, corporate earnings grew by a massive 25.9% over the year-earlier quarter, the strongest such growth in eight years. But expectations for fourth-quarter earnings are much less lofty, as analysts steadily drop their estimates. As recently as September, analysts expected earnings to grow by 17%, but that number has been knocked down… Read More